Music Box Records presents the complete score for Good Will Hunting (1997) by Danny Elfman. The film won two Oscars (one for Robin Williams and one for the writers) while it was nominated for another seven statuettes, including one for composer Danny Elfman and one for songwriter Elliott Smith.

Danny Elfman is of course best known for his Tim Burton movies (ranging from the director’s two Batman films to more recent affairs like Alice in Wonderland), but the composer has numerous other directors with whom he works regularly. Good Will Hunting marked the second collaboration between Elfman and Gus Van Sant (the first one being the director’s bitingly satirical To Die For, 1995); the relationship later extended to other films like Psycho (1998), Milk (2008), Restless (2011) and Promised Land (2012). Their collaboration on Good Will Hunting proved to be the most elusive of the bunch even though it brought Elfman the first Oscar nomination in his career.

The music for Good Will Hunting is a far cry from the usual Gothic sound of the composer who proves himself to be more than capable when it comes to scoring a deeply personal story. The music features acoustic guitar, piano, a smaller ensemble of strings and woodwinds plus a light choral effect in addition to some Irish sounding whistles that address the Boston setting of the story. From the Main Title to the End Titles (previously known as "Weepy Donuts"), Elfman’s music is mingling among minimalistic thematic variations the same way the titular Will Hunting is looking for a purpose in life…

Good Will Hunting has always been one of the great missing links in Elfman’s discography. The original soundtrack clearly favored the songs by Elliott Smith (and other artists) while Elfman’s work was represented with only two tracks. Although Miramax issued a rare Academy promo for members of the organization, that disc only contained selected highlights and Smith’s Oscar-nominated Miss Misery. Music Box Records presents the complete release of the score, including more Elfman music than what the promo contained, plus six compositions performed by Elliott Smith. The landmark release of this Oscar-nominated gem is supplemented with an 12-page booklet featuring expert commentary by Daniel Schweiger.

Minggu, Februari 09, 2014

In this 10th Anniversary year of the IFMCA’s creation, the most nominated composer is Abel Korzeniowski, who received six nominations: Score of the Year, Best Drama Score and Film Music Composition of the Year for his work on director Carlo Carlei’s new screen version of the classic Shakespeare romance “Romeo and Juliet”; Best Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror Score and Film Music Composition of the Year for his work on director Randy Moore’s unusual satirical fantasy-horror set in a nightmarish Disney theme park, “Escape From Tomorrow”; and a personal nomination as Composer of the Year. Kraków, Poland-born Korzeniowski has previously been nominated for three IFMCA Awards, winning the award for Best Drama Score for “A Single Man” in 2009.